


Day One: Umoja

by gardnerhill



Series: 221b Ficlets by Gardnerhill [32]
Category: Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms, Watson and Holmes (Comic Book)
Genre: 221B Ficlet, Alternate Universe - Race Changes, Community: watsons_woes, Gen, Prompt Fic, White Privilege
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-08
Updated: 2014-07-08
Packaged: 2018-02-07 23:14:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1917675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gardnerhill/pseuds/gardnerhill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They remember that day and each other. They just remember it differently.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Day One: Umoja

**Author's Note:**

> For the 2014 July Watson’s Woes Prompt #7, brought to you by [**med_cat**](http://med-cat.livejournal.com/) : **Wrong!** Have a character discover that he or she remembers a pivotal life event incorrectly. 
> 
> [_Watson and Holmes_ ](http://www.newparadigmstudios.com/about/watson-and-holmes/)is a brilliant comic-book series out of New Paradigm Studios, with writer Karl Bollers, penciler Rick Leonardi and color interiors by Paul Mendoza.
> 
> "Umoja" is Swahili for "unity," and is the principle celebrated on the first day of Kwanzaa.
> 
> This story is two 221bs, one after the other.

They were to meet Lt. Stroud a few blocks from Baker. No cabs would stop in this neighborhood, so they walked to the location. They continued their good-natured argument about the day they met.

“You walked into the hospital like you owned the place,” Jon insisted. “You didn’t come up to my collarbone, but you ruled that room. Even the police saw that.”

“I was only observing, Watson,” Holmes corrected him. “If anyone was impressive in that room, it was you protecting my client like a lioness standing over her cub.”

Jon Watson snorted. “Holmes, I was an overworked medical intern keeping some poor OD alive, that I thought had been beaten up by his pusher, in a Harlem ER with not enough staff, supplies or care. You kept the cops from busting him right there on the table.”

“I was assisting a police inquiry.” The consulting detective canted a mischievous eye up at his tall broad partner, the glint nearly hidden by the rakish tilt of his white fedora. “A good part of what I do is keep them from arresting the wrong man – again, and again, and again...”

Watson guffawed along with Holmes’ laughter. “I was just surprised they didn’t bust you for interfering with a police investigation,” the intern replied, still laughing. “Or for, oh, Deducing While Black.”

Holmes’ lips pursed with his own grim humor. “They did, the first few times. I gained some valuable contacts during those nights in lockup. But Stroud finally learned that I could help her, and her department.”

Watson nodded. Lt. Lesley Stroud was as cunning a politician as any in the law enforcement hierarchy and not above using every method approved or unapproved – including the services of an unlicensed consulting detective – but she also understood very well the struggle to be treated with respect in a profession dominated by white males. And she also appreciated a pair of civilian liaisons in a neighborhood where police were regarded as just another affliction alongside the poverty, drugs and violence.

“Helped me too, on one of the worst days at work I ever had. You brought justice for little Jane.”

Holmes shrugged with a sad smile, his dreadlocks swaying a little with the gesture. “All I do is find the truth and bring it to light.” His genuine smile came out as he looked up at Watson. “It’s a good deal easier these days, now that I have a mountain of a para-jumper at my back who’s a crack shot.”

“Man, I’m not a mountain,” Jon said, grinning at his partner. “You’re just short.”

Up ahead, Lt. Stroud smiled at the laughter coming from Baker.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a double 221b - two 221-word parts, and both the 221st and 442nd words begin with "b."


End file.
